For those of you who have not seen the recent Dove Soap ad that has set the internets ablaze, take a look at the pictures below.
Naythemua
So I’m scrolling through Facebook and this is the #dove ad that comes up…. ok so what am I looking at….
If this is the ad that made the cut, it would be interesting to see what they threw away. The world is constantly telling women of color and black women specifically that they are less than…not enough…even limited. Apparently Dove has no problem being zero exception to this rule as this is not the first time that theyve done this type of ad, nor is it the first apology that theyve issued.
They are no different than the other companies who tried it and then rolled out an awful apology upon getting called out for it.
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So, do we go after them again with torches and pitchforks or do we really take the time to figure out a deeper more meaningful and lasting response? Because we talked to them about being sensitive to us before. They claimed they would change their ways. They didnt. So, why even bother to talk to them about it again?
Said Dove of the ad, “An image we recently posted on Facebook missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully. We deeply regret the offense it caused.”
They saw nothing wrong with that ad. They were down with putting African-Americans back into that precarious position of having to decide if they are angry, hurt, sad, or all of the above. That feeling of being gut-punched yet again by a company who claimed to have learned their lesson lingers.
Why would they do this again? What is so hard to grasp here? Images like these hurt us as a culture, as a people and as a nation.
Doll Test
Video that BSC4 Scholars watched on 2/712
Why should Dove or any other company who does this get a second chance? Or in this case, a third. It tells our precious little ones that there is something valid within these ads. Right or wrong, that is what they are picking up and we cant afford for this to go unpunished yet again.
There is a price to pay for this behavior and either we make Dove pay it or take the hit ourselves in the psychological damage that will continue to be done for generations to come if we just kiss and make up once again.
The cost of allowing them to clean their reputation from this is too high. And at the end of the day..its just soap.